ASIA/PACIFIC
-The Australian stock market lost ground on Monday at the start of the penultimate week of 2023, after New York Fed chief Williams said that a March cut seems ‘premature’, tempering market speculation about imminent rate cuts.
-Asian markets closed mostly lower Monday while South Korean shares bucked the trend as defense stocks led gains.
-Japanese Yen reverses downtrend as policy rates of BOJ and Fed set to move closer, the Nikkei Asia reported.
EUROPE
-European stock exchanges registered losses at the opening bell on Monday as investors digested cautious comments from Fed and ECB officials on the rate outlook.
-German business climate worsened in December, with the Business Climate Index falling to 86.4, the Institute for Economic Research (Ifo) said.
-Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta shipped 32.6 million metric tons of grain in January-November, with Ukrainian grain accounting for roughly 40% of the total, the port authority told Reuters.
AMERICAS
-Major stock indices in the United States traded higher in the premarket session on Monday, as investors awaited a new batch of economic data expected to be released during the week.
-Fitch Ratings reaffirmed Brazil’s BB credit rating, sustaining a stable outlook, building on an earlier upgrade bestowed in July.
-Bolivia forged a significant partnership with Russia’s Uranium One Group. They agreed to build a semi-industrial direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant in Colcha, the Rio Times reported.
AFRICA
-Nigerian shareholders have called upon the government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adopt a tiered approach to recapitalization requirements for banks, taking into account their operational scope, Nairametrics reported.
-South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) said on Monday it has imposed a R143 million penalty and disbarred financial advisor Jacobus Geldenhuis for 20 years for alledgly running a Ponzi scheme.
-Rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Ethiopia’s credit rating on Thursday to junk status. (bad), suggesting an “increased probability” of non-payment.
MIDDLE EAST
-Saudi Arabia bought 1,353,000 metric tons of wheat in a tender, the General Food Security Authority (GFSA) said on Monday.
-Major Gulf markets were subdued in early trade on Monday after the New York Federal Reserve president pushed back against expectations of imminent rate cuts, although rising oil prices limited losses.
-At least eight investors in Saudi Arabia have been ordered to pay fines of SAR302 million ($80.5 million) for market law violations, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) confirmed on Thursday.
